


Art

by ladydragon76



Series: AU Yeah AUgust (in December) [24]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Body Modification, I'm Making Shit Up Again!, M/M, Sticky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 14:54:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17143835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladydragon76/pseuds/ladydragon76
Summary: Summary:Ratchet needs a retouch.





	Art

**Author's Note:**

> **'Verse:** G1  
>  **Series:** AU Yeah August (in December)  
>  **Rating:** NC-17  
>  **Characters:** Sunstreaker/Ratchet  
>  **Warnings:** Sticky, Body Modification, I'm Making Shit Up Again!,  
>  **Notes:** I'm sure you all remember AU Yeah AUgust, yeah? Well, I was crocheting and didn't have time to try to write like I wanted, so I decided to move it to December. I have chosen some other prompts to replace some on the original list so as to avoid the ones I'm not into, but I do hope y'all enjoy!
> 
> "NC-17 but no actual smut? LD, WHY??!" - my readers probably.
> 
> 24\. Tattoo/Workplace

"Sorry. What?" Sunstreaker asked, because he absolutely had not heard Ratchet correctly.

Ratchet smirked. "I said, I would like you to help me update my array work."

"I'm not a medic."

"No, but you are an artist," Ratchet replied and crossed his arms before leaning against the doorway to Sunstreaker and Sideswipe's quarters. "I know you designed the pretties you and your menace of a brother have, so I would like you to help me with mine." He grinned at Sunstreaker. "If you're willing."

Sunstreaker frowned and wished Sideswipe was around because dealing with Ratchet when he wasn't swearing at them for being wounded was not something Sunstreaker felt he was good at. "How do you know anything about our arrays?"

"Are you kidding me? You two have fragged your ways through most of the mechs here, and every last one of them has tried to convince the others that they did better with you and Sides than anyone else." Ratchet snorted and shook his head. "I know about every last whorl around Sideswipe's valve, and just how your inlays flicker when you're close to overload thanks to those morons. I also know, from them, that the work you designed is genuinely beautiful. So you want the job or not?"

Heat flooded Sunstreaker's face, but he nodded. "I'll need to see what you have before we can decide what can be changed or what just needs touched up."

Ratchet nodded and straightened. "I checked the schedule, and it looks like we're both off shift on Wednesday. We can use one of the private rooms off the medbay assuming the Decepticons aren't afts and slag the plan."

"Yeah. Ok."

"Nine?" Ratchet asked, grinning again, and Sunstreaker just knew the slagger was laughing at him. Though to be fair, Sunstreaker's face was likely hot pink, and no one managed to make him blush. It had to be novel for Ratchet.

"Nine's good. Meet you then."

Ratchet gave Sunstreaker a wave and left, and once the door was shut, Sunstreaker slumped against it. Primus. Was he really going to see Ratchet's array? Touch it? Make it more beautiful?

Sunstreaker whined and slid down the wall, hot face covered as he tried to shove aside desire and focus on... anything else.

~ | ~

The few days between Ratchet showing up on his doorstep and their meet-up had allowed Sunstreaker the chance to panic, flail at Sideswipe, let Sideswipe calm him down, and then begin to actually think about the sorts of designs that would look good on Ratchet. This was a job and he would do it and do it well. That determination was still in place when he arrived in the medbay. He was well past the initial 'what the fragging what?!' and 'oh holy Primus!' he'd felt and was ready to work.

"How do you want me?" Ratchet asked with a smirk, but Sunstreaker had found his focus and wasn't going to blush this time. It's not like the sight of a spike or valve bothered him, it was just that it was _Ratchet_ \- and he'd been surprised.

"On the table," Sunstreaker said with a wave at the med berth while he reached into his subspace for his art datapad. "I'll need to see your whole spike, so get it pressurized."

Ratchet snickered but did as told while Sunstreaker pulled up his ideas file. He -mostly- ignored Ratchet working his spike from its sheath, and moved to look at the array surface itself and any detailing around the valve.

"Are we only doing your spike?" Sunstreaker asked and pointed the end of his stylus at Ratchet's valve, which did have some etching around it, but it was scuffed and faded, shallow with age. "Because that needs help too."

Ratchet huffed a laugh and released his fully pressurized spike. "All of it if you're willing."

"Not gonna half-ass the job," Sunstreaker muttered and began taking image captures. "Who did these designs?"

"No idea the mech's name," Ratchet replied with a little shrug. "I got them during my second cycle in Med Academy from some little parlor in Iacon." He looked down his own frame at them. "I always liked them, but as you can see, the etching is aged, and I think my self-repair is finally winning the battle to push out the inlays."

Sunstreaker frowned and reached out to touch, running a finger along a line of light piping. "Yeah. That's definitely being crowded out. Better than it getting pulled inward though. Mess with how you feel when fragging yet?"

"Not yet," Ratchet said, and Sunstreaker looked up at the odd catch in the medic's voice. "I want to fix it before it gets there. Been maintaining it as best I can, but it's not easy to work on one's own array."

"Nn," Sunstreaker grunted and went back to collecting images, though he did hold the art pad out to Ratchet. "Some ideas. Just stuff that might look good on you. Not all of them will work though unless you want to strip all this out, wait 'til it heals, then start fresh. All that would need revised though. They did good work at least." He caught Ratchet's spike between his thumb and forefinger and pulled down slightly so he could get shots of the top of it, ignoring the engine rev and doing his best to maintain a professional air. It was a spike, they were sensitive by nature, and Sunstreaker was _not_ going to read anything into this- no matter what Sideswipe had said.

"These are pretty," Ratchet said, voice rougher than usual. "Uh... Rather not go through the hassle of a complete redo, but I really like this one, so if I need to, then I will."

Sunstreaker looked up as the datapad was turned toward him. "Yeah, that one's my favorite. It'd compliment the lines of your frame really well, and I think you've got too much white now. It's lost against the backdrop of your spike since it's a light silver." He looked back down at Ratchet's array and took the 'pad back from him. "You want to reuse any of the threads?"

"We can, though I have some more Wheeljack made me when I mentioned wanting to do this." Ratchet smiled. "And he said the same thing and made more red already."

"Cool. And yeah, I think I can make this work with minimal do-over." Sunstreaker scribbled a few notes and stepped back. "You can close up. I'll play with some options and get back to you in a few days."

Ratchet chuckled. "Sure, I'll just close right up." He waved to the door. "Make sure that shuts behind you for me?"

Sunstreaker blinked and felt his face begin to heat- not in embarrassment, but because now he was going to be thinking of what Ratchet was doing in here for the rest of the day. And thanks to Ratchet's work pressurizing himself, Sunstreaker's imagination had _plenty_ to go on. "Yeah. Bye then." And he scurried out of the private medical room.

Sideswipe clouted him in the head when he found out Sunstreaker hadn't offered to help Ratchet with his 'problem'.

~ | ~

A couple months passed but the day had finally come for Sunstreaker to get to work. Ratchet had since stripped out the light piping threads from his spike and been treating it with nanites to allow the old channels to heal over. Inspecting the spike, Sunstreaker could see where some places were obviously more smoothed out than others. That was fine however, because those more visible lines were going to be reused.

"Ok," Sunstreaker said and washed his hands thoroughly while Ratchet sterilized his array surface and spike one more time. "You sure you don't want anyone else in here to help?"

"No, I can handle it," Ratchet said and squirmed around on the med berth to give Sunstreaker the most access to his array. He was left sitting, aft on the bottom edge of the berth, knees spread wide, and heels braced on the side framing bars of the berth. There were some cushions behind him to help keep him upright. "I'll say if I need a break."

Sunstreaker hooked a stool with his foot and dragged it over to sit between Ratchet's legs. "Ok," he repeated and reached back to pull over the tray. "Gonna draw the lines first, then you can check them." A tiny human-made 'sharpie' attached to a stylus was picked up, and Sunstreaker braced his arm on the berth, right hand gently capturing Ratchet's spike between thumb and forefinger again to hold it steady. "This'll probably be the worst for tickling, but try to hold still."

Ratchet leaned his head back and shut his optics. "Go ahead."

Sunstreaker carefully began to transfer the lines onto Ratchet's spike, gaze switching back and forth between the finalized design on his datapad, and the spike in front of him. It _had_ to tickle, but Ratchet was still, and Sunstreaker began to suspect the medic had offlined his motor relays to keep from twitching. Whatever worked, he supposed, and continued to work.

The good thing about a human sharpie was that if Sunstreaker made a mistake, all it took was a quick swipe with a few drops of isopropyl alcohol to remove it. So far, Ratchet wasn't having any issues remaining firm, Sunstreaker noticed. Transfluid, he hadn't tested against the marker though...

Sunstreaker smirked at a bead of transfluid at the tip of Ratchet's spike, and he tipped his head forward, lips parting before suddenly remembering himself and jerking back.

"What?" Ratchet asked, lifting his head and blinking. His vents were running hard, but still the only movement was from the neck up.

"Sorry," Sunstreaker said, and scrambled for words. "Sides... is an idiot."

"Is he watching this through you?" Ratchet asked with a put-upon sigh.

"No," Sunstreaker said immediately and shook his head. He didn't like lying to Ratchet, but he didn't want a _client_ -he reminded himself sternly- to fear for privacy. "He wasn't even trying to look. My concentration slipped." There, not even all that much of a lie. He was just going to let Ratchet think his concentration blocking the _bond_ had slipped. Yeah. Primus.

Ratchet dropped his head back. "Ok. How close to done are you?"

"Almost there," Sunstreaker replied, and gave the tip of Ratchet's spike a quick swipe with the cleaning cloth. "Just a bit around the base and right side still." He cycled his vents quietly and got back to work, glad his hands were more steady than his spark.

A few minutes later, Sunstreaker leaned back and _really_ inspected the design. "Ok. Check it, because this'll be your last chance to change anything."

Ratchet lay still another moment, all but confirming Sunstreaker's guess that he'd shut down his own motor control, then sat forward, knees spreading more so he could look down between them. Sunstreaker picked up a small mirror and angled it so Ratchet could see the underside of his spike without touching it and risking the ink smearing.

"Yeah. I think this will be great." Ratchet pointed. "And nearly all red this time, right?"

"Uh huh. This line," Sunstreaker replied pointing and angling the mirror again, "and then these few here will be white too, but that's all. Just like the drawing. Too much white mixed in and you'll look like a candy cane."

"Hear they're tasty," Ratchet said, and Sunstreaker looked up in time to get a wink.

"For humans," Sunstreaker shot back and set the mirror aside so he could pick up his acid pen and the light piping threads. They were thin and delicate, and he looked back up at Ratchet again. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, Wheeljack's seen your spike before, right?"

"Jack would faint dead away." Ratchet laughed and held a hand down. "I can do this."

"It's going to hurt, Ratchet," Sunstreaker couldn't help but push. "Are you _sure_?" Because he couldn't deaden the sensors now for the same reason he couldn't when Sunstreaker was drawing the lines in ink. The spike needed to stay pressurized and unsheathed.

"I'm sure, Sunny," Ratchet said, his voice a bit soft, and Sunstreaker's spark fluttered a bit. "I'll be fine. Promise."

"Fine. But tell me if you need a break." Sunstreaker handed over the red piping, and scooted closer but to his right, shoulder _under_ Ratchet's knee. "Gonna start this side since it's my right and your left, and that's our wrong hands. Do it first while your steadiest."

"Whatever works for you. I _have_ been through this before. Remember?"

Sunstreaker nodded, steadied his arm, and with a final glance to Ratchet, they got to work. Sunstreaker would draw the line of acid, trace it again to make it deeper, and Ratchet would immediately follow the new channel with the thread. It was slow, painful, did not smell nice, and took _hours_. There were a number times where Ratchet's spike began to wilt from the pain, but a short break where Ratchet stared at the ceiling quietly managed to fix it. Sunstreaker carefully tried not to imagine what the medic could be thinking about that contact wasn't needed, though he was glad it wasn't. Touching might even hurt more as they neared completion.

"Primus, frag me," Ratchet said when they did finally finish and flopped back against the berth.

"Don't let it retract yet," Sunstreaker warned. Pit and Smelters though! It was... pretty. Ratchet's spike was really damn pretty, and Sunstreaker felt a swell of pride as he checked over their work. _His_ designs weren't really any more complicated than the old work had been, but they felt more _Ratchet_ to him. "This might sting," he warned and grabbed a tube of nanite gel.

"Fuck!" Ratchet yelped, and Sunstreaker snickered as he thickly slathered on the gel.

"Might be cold too."

"Fragger," Ratchet groaned and covered his face with his hands. "I may not be able to keep from retracting it."

Sunstreaker curled his fingers around Ratchet's spike and _stroked_ slowly and lightly a few times before he really realized what he was doing. It helped spread the gel though, so that was absolutely his excuse. Besides, it worked. Ratchet's fans kicked up immediately, and the spike fully repressurized in Sunstreaker's grasp. "Ready for me to do the array surface, or you need more of a break?" he asked, and winced that his own voice was a little rougher than usual.

"Go ahead," Ratchet said. "Let's just try and get done."

At least the array surface was just etching, and Sunstreaker wouldn't need to go over the lines more than once with the acid. This design was fine too, so it was just a matter of tracing over the older work to redefine it. Sunstreaker braced the back of his right index and middle fingers against the underside of Ratchet's spike to push it up a bit, then carefully began to work.

"Ok?" Sunstreaker asked, not pausing when Ratchet whined. Sunstreaker was working right around the sensor cluster between spike housing and valve, and there was no way to lessen the pain. Slowing down or stopping would only draw it out longer.

"Keep going," Ratchet gasped and gave his spike a few strokes to keep it firmed up.

"There a reason you had that last artist draw around your anterior node cluster?" Sunstreaker asked, aiming to distract Ratchet with his teasing tone. "Have a lover at the time unable to find it?"

Ratchet huffed a laugh. "No. Just thought it'd be pretty."

"It is," Sunstreaker conceded, and after only a few more careful, curving lines was able to leave the hyper-sensitive cluster alone. "Don't pull your spike too hard," he said, but there was nothing to stop the heat seeping into his own array as he watched Ratchet's hand move.

"Not. Frag that _stung_!" Ratchet hissed and finally eased his hand off his spike. "I really want to just press on it.

"Don't do that." Sunstreaker lightly knocked Ratchet's hand away even though the medic hadn't quite moved to touch.

"Won't," Ratchet said and gripped the sides of the med berth with both hands, head back and vents cycling hard.

"Tell me when you're ready," Sunstreaker said, and tried to ignore the arousal seeping into him from all angles. He couldn't 'face Ratchet now though, no matter what. The work needed to settle and heal. Poor Ratchet, but if Sunstreaker could just get through this, then _he_ could at least go frag Sideswipe straight through the berth.

Great, now he had to try to focus through _those_ mental images.

"Ok." Ratchet cycled his vents one last time and sat back up. "Let's get this done before my hips lock up in this position."

Sunstreaker nodded and got back to work, and an hour later they were finished. Ratchet deemed his spike safe to let retract, though his array cover would remain open for a while. No nanites on the new acid-drawn lines though, or they would heal over too much. He was stuck with that sting until it faded.

"Thanks, Sunny," Ratchet said while Sunstreaker cleaned up his tools and stowed the datapad.

"No problem. Think it looks good, but we'll check it tomorrow. If any of the etching fades too much, we'll re-cut in a week." Sunstreaker swept his gaze around the room, checking for things he'd forgotten, but also to keep from looking at Ratchet's array again. Primus, he needed to get to Sideswipe.

"Sounds good." Ratchet waved to the door. "And go, get yourself some energon, I know we've been in here most of the day. I'll comm you tomorrow when I have time for a check."

"Ok." And Sunstreaker made good on the offer of escape.

~ | ~

Sunstreaker frowned and looked up from the video game they were playing when the chime to their door sounded. "Who you expecting?"

"No one," Sideswipe said and rose to go open the door. "Oh! Hey, Ratch! What's up?"

Sunstreaker looked up, spark tripping as Ratchet edged into the quarters. It had been a month, and Ratchet's new work had healed nicely. So why was he here? "Everything ok?" he asked and set the controller on the conversation table.

"Yeah, fine," Ratchet replied with a wave of his hand. "I just thought I'd come by and see if I could get some help recalibrating the sensors."

Shock jangled through the bond. _Does he mean..?_ Sideswipe asked, optics boggling as he stared at the medic.

Sunstreaker gaped too, and struggled for words for a moment while Ratchet just stood there, gaze passive and far too fragging calm! "You want us to help you recalibrate your _array_ sensors?"

"That's what I said." Ratchet smirked and walked over to plop down on the couch next to Sunstreaker. "I mean, you don't have to, obviously. But I'm also sure I haven't been misinterpreting the signals from you two the last couple damn _years_ , but since neither of you idiots are going to make a move, I figured I'd better."

Silence reigned for a moment, and then Sideswipe shouted, "Hah! I told you he liked having your head between his legs!"

"Sides!" Sunstreaker felt his face go molten hot in an instant.

"Hey, Ratch, was that invite for both of us, or just Sunny?" Sideswipe asked with a grin as he sauntered over as well.

"Both."

_Sunshine?_

"Yeah," Sunstreaker said and dropped his gaze to Ratchet's lap. He was still reeling a bit, but seducing someone was familiar territory. He could do this. He _wanted_ to do this. "Know exactly where to start too."

**Author's Note:**

> Want to know more [About Me](https://ladydragon76.dreamwidth.org/334490.html)?


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